Americans have grown concerned over the idea that Russians could be hacking and changing the outcome of our democratic elections. For years, the American voter has routinely entered their voting booth and cast their vote for a variety of candidates and issues without even thinking of some nefariously hidden figure manipulating voting machines.
However, that all changed with the news media’s obsession with Russian meddling.
The plausible idea of Russia interfering in our election came to surface days before election day 2016. According to a National Security Agency document that was published by the Intercept, the attacks focused on voter registration systems instead of voting machines themselves, so there is no clear evidence that the Russian government directly altered anyone's votes.
However, once the Russians accessed elected officials' computers, they could have erased records for voters registered with certain parties. Erased voters would still be able to vote, but they would have had to cast provisional ballots, a lengthy process but may have discouraged some from casting their votes.
Russian influence on the election, however, was a concern since last summer:
June 2016 - "The Washington Post" revealed that hackers working for the Russian government accessed the DNC's computer system. Russian government officials denied they were linked to the hack.
July 2016 - The FBI launches an investigation into the hack of the DNC, but they do not say if they have a suspect in mind. During a campaign speech, Donald Trump tries to tie the cyber attack to Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server, saying: "Russia, if you're listening, I hope you're able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing."
August 2016: Foreign hackers released cellphone numbers and personal email addresses for members of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee including Nancy Pelosi's information.
September 2016: Russian President Vladimir Putin fired back during an interview saying that he and the Russian government have no ties to the president. Democrats Dianne Feinstein and Adam Schiff later called Putin to put a stop to possible Russian intelligence agencies attempts to interfere with the election. Trump continued to reject the belief that it was a Russian hacker saying, "It could be Russia, but it could also be China. It could also be lots of other people. It also could be somebody sitting on their bed that weighs 400 pounds."
October-November 2016: U.S. lawmakers begin to build up an investigation as Congress attempts to request information be declassified in regards to the "Russian Government and the US election."
December 2016: Following the election of Trump, Senators John McCain, Schumer, Lindsey Graham and Jack Reed released a statement calling for both parties to work together on securing future elections and stopping cyber attacks. It's later revealed that American intelligence agencies disagree over Russia's intent in meddling of the election.
Now, states are being peppered with questions about election security from reporters on tight deadlines. Their questions often reflect a complete misunderstanding of voting systems and what safeguards are in place to keep them secure.
News reporters fight to feed the never-ending news cycle, distorting facts and creating false narratives about Putin, Russian hacking and security flaws in the system.
The overall plot line appears that states can’t provide proper security for elections. Many mainstream media outlets are pushing the idea of federal oversight as the answer. An oversight committee is just a political power grab.
Experts have agreed that manipulating a presidential election is a good TV plot line but does not have any real-world leg to stand on.
State voting systems are diverse, highly scrutinized and not connected to the Internet.
Cyber-based attacks on voter registration do not alter the vote count. The key thing to remember is your vote is positively secure.
False narratives from the media or partisan allegiances just add fuels to the fire of conspiracy theories but also erodes the safeguard we have in our democratic elections, which is the public’s trust. Failing to respect this process with accurate reporting is a disservice to the American people.
The only effect and plausible attack on our elections are not the hacking of votes but is caused by manipulating of the American media elite.
With a constant stream of breaking news stories that stirs up voter confusion, these attacks and false stories erodes America’s confidence in the cornerstone of our democracy that is the real crime.
